Archives For lunch

This is the reason for visiting Dose Espresso in Willoughby, for the coffee.

The people at Dose roast their own coffee, and it’s obvious they care about it.

Oh, and you can also buy light meals / snack, too.

The Place

It’s been good to see more eating places open up in the Willoughby area over the last year or so. Dose is just a small coffee shop at the back of a small strip of shops. It seems to always be full, so many times I’ve resorted to getting coffee to take away, just so I could have a strong coffee.

The array of coffee paraphernalia along the end wall is facinating, and tempting!

The cafe overlooks a tiny car park, which on this occasion held the Dose van!

The Menu

The photo quality of this menu is not so good, but hopefully it’s good enough for you to get an idea of what’s on the menu. As they don’t have a kitchen, all of the food is prepared off premises, ready made, so just needs to be heated or toasted.

What they call the “bacon and egg roll” is not really a roll, but a bread like focaccia, toasted, with two free range eggs, eye bacon, tomato relish and hollandaise sauce. The tomato relish helps lift it above being an ordinary egg and bacon combo.

They always have a selection of cakes and breads, such as banana bread. One time I had a scroll with banana and maple syrup which was wonderfully decadent!

And then there’s the coffee. When I know a place has good coffee I order it black so I can fully taste it. Dose varies the beans they offer in the cafe, which is a good way of trying them, before ordering the beans to take home.

Dose does a very good cold-drip brewed coffee, served in a glass more like a brandy-glass in shape, with a big chunk of ice. Whenever I’ve had it there, I’m always amazed at how fine, like a fine wine, it is, yet with full flavour.

I’ve been to Dose Espresso countless times, and will continue to return for the coffee, often having something to nibble with it. I just wish their premises were bigger so I could be sure of always finding a spot to linger. If there isn’t room, I’ll take the coffee to the park just a few blocks away, enjoying people-watching there.

Details

Here are the details about Dose Espresso at time of posting. Please check their web site for more current details.

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“My Happy Place”. That’s how I think of The Armchair Collective in Mona Vale. Over the past year or so, it has become a favourite place, a place to which I love returning.

Why is that? Is it the atmosphere, with the fun furniture and other odds and ends for sale, colourful, with lots of textures? Or is it the jumbled collection of things spread throughout the cafe, so there’s always something new or different to see wherever you are? Or is it the consistently good food? Or is it the friendly staff? Or is it that the people and the vibe all fit the beach feel? Or? All of the above.

The Armchair Collective is a sister to The Boat House at Palm Beach. It has many things in common with The Boat House, with a similar menu, scaled down a bit, and masses of flowers for sale.

The Environment

While being seated at a table surrounded by furniture or other things sounds like it could be like being in the middle of a furniture shop, it’s nothing like that. The colours and the textures and fabrics add a relaxed and happy vibe.

Everywhere you look are things to tempt you – furniture, teapots, teatowels, flowers, yummy food, sweets to take away such as caramels and fudge.

Rather than being jumbled and over-full, somehow the large bunches of flowers and all sorts of interesting goodies seem to add to a feeling of abundance.

The Food

The food at Armchair is good everyday food, but tasty, interesting, and good quality. Whatever I’ve eaten there has been better than I was expecting.